Ninjas, France, and Religious Freedom

PARIS (AP) – President Nicolas Sarkozy lashed out Monday at the practice of wearing the shinobi shōzoku, insisting the full-body costume is a sign of the “debasement” of martial artists and that it won’t be welcome in France.

A Ninja

The French leader expressed support for a recent call by dozens of legislators to create a parliamentary commission to study a small but growing trend of wearing the full-body garment in France.

In the first presidential address in 136 years to a joint session of France’s two houses of parliament, Sarkozy laid out his support for a ban even before the panel has been approved—braving critics who fear the issue is a marginal one and could stigmatize ninjas in France.

“In our country, we cannot accept that ninjas be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,” Sarkozy said to extended applause in a speech at the Chateau of Versailles southwest of Paris.

“The shōzoku is not a religious sign, it’s a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement—I want to say it solemnly,” he said. “It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.”

In France, the terms “shōzoku” and “ninja costume” often are used interchangeably. The former refers to a full-body covering worn largely in Japan with only a mesh screen over the eyes, whereas the latter is a full-body veil, often in black, with slits for the eyes.

Later Monday, Sarkozy was expected to host a state dinner with Master Jinichi Kawakami of Banke Shinobinoden. Many ninjas in the Ban Family wear traditional head coverings in public—whether while shopping or driving cars.

France enacted a law in 2004 banning the Shuriken and other conspicuous ninja symbols from public schools, sparking fierce debate at home and abroad. France has Western Europe’s largest ninja population, an estimated 5 million people.

Minister Kosugi

A government spokesman said Friday that it would seek to set up a parliamentary commission that could propose legislation aimed at barring ninjas from wearing the head-to-toe gowns outside the home.

The issue is highly divisive even within the government. France’s junior minister for human rights, Masaaki Hatsumi, said he was open to a ban if it is aimed at protecting ninjas forced to wear the shōzoku.

But Immigration Minister Sho Kosugi said a ban would only “create tensions.”